Elven Oath

Summary: The first time Minami sees the Spring God, he is decidedly unimpressed. But with every step Yuuri takes, flowers bloom, and slowly, slowly, awe begins to spill from Minami's soul until he is a flowing river of happiness, ooh-ing and aah-ing over each newborn flower. Lohengrin, Minami wants to belong to Yuuri's court.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yuri on Ice

Note: This was written for the Yuri on Ice Fantasy week 11/14/17- Day Two: Yellow. I used all three prompts: ''Elf,'' ''Sunflower,'' and '''Happiness''. I also have entries for day 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.

This is part of the Land of Gods and Monsters 'verse (fic 7) but can be read as a standalone.


Sunbeams trail over the forest floor, dew drops gleaming in the first light of day. Flowers curl open, petals unfurling.

Minami rolls out of his comfortable flower cradle, opens his eyes mid-flight and screams.

No, not the usual ''Goodmoooooooooooooorning!'' – indeed, what leaves his mouth is a terrified scream of the likes you've scarcely heard.

Ouch. Dust-speckled and limbs aching, Minami picks himself up and comes face to face with- a foot?

Big folk dancing in the Fairy Meadow? Minami clenches his teeth.

He shakes a fist at it, craning his neck to see more. ''Hey, bigfoot! I oughta teach you a lesson!''

The foot disappears behind two knees carefully lowered to the ground. It results in a thwack hard enough to make Minami stumble, and oh, by Lohengrin! The God's face is so close! Minami eyes him nervously. He's the size of the giant's nose, and he has never wished more he wasn't an elf anymore! Oh, if he hadn't been so foolish and chosen a court already, he could've fled from this enormous God with his monstrously big mouth!

But Minami has no wings, so this is it. He swallows, heart pounding. ''I'm not afraid of you!'' He squeaks, jabbing a finger toward the eye, jumping up and down.

''I apologize,'' The vibrations knock Minami off his feet.

He bristles. ''You're gonna have to do better than that, buddy!'' He sizes him up, jumping from one leg to the other, fists raised. ''Come at me, bro!''

Okay, maybe he shouldn't have imitated the Fairy Queen, but this God is clearly out of line and Minami is putting him back in his place! Atta, boy!

The God flinches, drawing back a few meters- considerable length for someone who is only five centimetres tall. ''Hah, saving your own skin!''

The God blinks. ''I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. I'm Yuuri, the Spring God. I came to pay my respects to Mila.''

Minami's mouth drops. ''You're the one she's always going on about?'' Yuuri turns beet red. Minami flails. ''You're not nearly cool enough to have my Fairy Queen in your court!''

Yuuri's eyes widen. ''No, no, no! Mila's part of my mother's court!''

''Then you're an imposter!''

''No, I'm not!''

''Yes, you are! And even if you were who you say you are, you'd still be my rival!''

''What?!''

Minami crosses his arms as the God splutters. This, the Spring God? Ha!

They'll see about that!


''How dare you return here, you fiend! I shall slay you!'' Minami growls.

Yuuri takes one look at him, gasps and flees.

…Towards the main village, but that's not the point.

His grass halm armour totally scared his rival!


''Kenjirou, what did you do now?''

Minami looks up from his berry staple. ''Mila! I expelled the imposter with my fearsome growl!''

His Queen blinks and bursts out in laughter. ''He was worried about you because of your hornbill cry.''

''My lion roar!'' Minami stomps his foot.

She pats him on the head, wiping away a tear. ''Yes, yes, hold on to your dreams, little elf.''

His shoulders hunch as she flies away. ''This is all your fault, stupid Yuuri. I'll get you, just you wait!''


Pelting berries at the God is great stress relief, even if it doesn't accomplish anything. But then again, the red stains will be a pain to wash out!

Minami grins. He's a great rival!


Yuuri comes by once a week and Minami's getting tired.

Lying on the edge of his flower cradle, he eyes the God as he tip-toes past as not to disturb the other elves.

Hey- that's funny!

Minami gets onto his hands and knees and leans over the yellow petals. There! Where Yuuri's feet touch the ground, flowers sprout!

Clambering down the stem, he runs towards the footprints.

Bluebells, daffodils, even a few dahlias! Minami gasps in delight. There are even sunflowers! Dancing around the footprint flowers, he cheers. He has the best eternal rival ever!

He stops dead in his tracks, nose to nose with the place where blue flowers must've peeked out between Yuuri's toes, the first to be born.

Yuuri is his eternal rival. He isn't supposed to be cool.

What now?


''Why don't you play with me anymore?'' a voice comes from above.

Minami crosses his arms. ''I didn't play with you! We fought!''

''Oh…''

…Why does Yuuri's wince make him feel so guilty? Minami chews on the inside of his cheek.

Sunflowers wave in the wind above his flower cradle, and it's like their colours are tattoed on the inside of his eyes. Even when he sleeps he gets no rest. Is this what wretchedness feels like?

It tastes like bile in his mouth.


Minami tries hard, but with every step Yuuri takes, flowers bloom, and slowly, slowly, awe begins to spill from Minami's soul until he is a flowing river of happiness, ooh-ing and aah-ing over each newborn flower.

No God's gonna make a fool out of him, but Lohengrin, Minami wants to belong to Yuuri's court. His heart screams: Take me, I'm the best elf they've got!

…But surely Yuuri has gotten offers before. What if his fairies don't like him? What if Yuuri doesn't like Minami?!

Minami's pretty sure he botched that up early in the game. He swallows and stands up with dread-filled legs. No- stop with the heavy boots. He could do this! He can… He can!


''HEY, YOU!''

Okay, not the best opening, but Minami once said: ''Is that a wart or a whisker?'' to a kitsune and survived, so this is definitely an improvement.

Yuuri blinks. It looks strange, now Minami's on eye-height. ''How did you get up there?''

Minami puffs his chest out. ''I climbed!''

''…How do you plan on getting down?''

''Climb-'' Minami sees the depth beneath him, flails and- Yuuri catches him in the palm of his hand.

''Careful!''

Minami pouts. ''See, if you'd make me part of your court, you wouldn't need to rescue me! I'd be able to fly all on my own!''

''What?''

The elf turns beet red, pushing his fingers together. ''Part… of your court.'' He flaps with his arms. ''So I could fly and all! And help you carry out your duties. And look at the sunflowers 'cause they're so pretty and…''

Yuuri's poppy cheeks are the cutest thing he's ever seen. Whoever is cooing out there, Minami certainly agrees with them! Wait- there is no one else here. By Ortrud! The elf slaps his hands in front of his mouth, attempting to wrestle the sound back in.

Yuuri bites his lip. ''I don't have a court, but if you'd like to be the first, you can!''

Minami's jaw drops. ''But… How do people not fall to their knees and beg you to enter your court? I mean, that was my plan B! I had a plan C too, which consisted of crying a lot and telling Mila I was going to be a child forever because I only wanted the coolest God. I'd be Peter Pan, can you imagine?!''

Yuuri's flush creeps down his neck. He opens his mouth, but Minami is on a roll and no stop signs are going to halt him. ' ''Wait- you want me as your Fairy Queen?!''

The Spring God nods. ''If you please.''

''Oh, I'm pleased, alright!'' Minami chirps, patting Yuuri's thumb. ''Lemme get up there and give you a smooch on the forehead!''

And that he does.

Magic transfers better via skin to skin contact, and there is no greater place to kiss than the third eye. Yuuri smiles as the elf huffs and puffs. Kissing his index finger, he places it carefully on Minami's forehead.

It tickles- laughter bubbles up in Minami's throat as the magic rushes through him. It's a wild river, splashing everywhere, wetting his skin and dripping along his throat and his back, until the water freezes, wing-shaped. Fragile, swan-feathered and red.

''They're so beautiful,'' the awe is clearly audible.

Minami is an adult now. ''Yahoooooooooooo!'' He shoots up into the air, buzzing in circles around Yuuri's head. ''Yuuri, look! I'm a fairy! A real fairy!''

Yuuri laughs, voice vibrating through the air, but Minami stays where he is, wings easily steering against the current. ''A real Fairy Queen!''

Minami slaps his cheeks, kicking in the air. ''Oh, I'm gonna leave the village! I'm the first part of your court! Waaaaaaah! Mila's not gonna believe it! Ha! Sara's not gonna believe it! I'm a Fairy Queen, Yuuri, your Fairy Queen!''

''The best one a God could have.''

Minami will die from Yuuri's awesome levels one of these days! But first… First, he has a court to make!


Author's Note

Minami is a precious cinnamon roll, protect him.

The songs I listened to while writing this:

Minami's music box.

Lohengrin prelude.

The outcry ''Lohengrin!'' must've been pretty obvious, but ''Ortrud'' is the antagonist from the same opera. For those not familiar with the opera, Minami's wings being ''swan-feathered'' is also a reference. At the end of the opera, the swan that was constantly present turned out to be a cursed man. In this case it is no curse, but I thought it'd be fun to keep a bit of a theme! *grins*